The present invention relates to a conveyor for conveying suspended objects.
Conveyors of the generic type which are used for conveying suspended objects, such as items of clothing, bags and the like, consist substantially of rail profiles, in which in an upper track a conveyor chain is guided, which are coupled to holding adapters guided in a lower track of the rail profiles and are entrained by the conveyor chain in a direction of conveyance.
In order to transfer individual holding adapters from a first conveyor circuit, which is formed by such a rail profile, to a second rail profile, the rail profiles are connected to one another by means of so-called switches.
In the case of bags or items of clothing, such as jackets, T-shirts and the like which have a specific width perpendicular to the direction of conveyance, the objects can be struck during transport via the switch by subsequent objects being conveyed further along the rail profile, thereby causing oscillations or rotations that can cause disruptions in the further transport such that the conveyor chain must be stopped.
The further transport of the objects to be conveyed in the switches is typically effected via separate drive apparatuses comprising motors which drive a conveyor chain or the like which is allocated to the switch and which for its part conveys the objects to be conveyed along the switch.
The activation of the conveyor chain of the switch must be coupled to the activation of the conveyor chain of the first rail profile in order to ensure that the objects which are transported off via the switch and are suspended from the holding adapters are transported away at sufficient speed from the first rail profile in order to prevent objects transported further along the first rail profile from being struck by those objects which are transported off via the switch.